The Twilight Sad

An uncommonly well-named band, the Twilight Sad's music is defined
as much by their brooding yet empathetic songwriting as it is by
James Graham's pronounced Scottish burr and Andy MacFarlane's
massive guitars. On early albums such as 2007's Fourteen Autumns
& Fifteen Winters, the vast expanses in their songs and rustic
touches like accordions were borrowed from post-rock and folk, but
they continued to innovate as the years passed. On 2012's No One
Can Ever Know, they reimagined industrial and motorik sounds, and
took their music to anthemic heights on 2014's widely acclaimed
Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave. By the time they
honed their post-punk chops on 2019's It Won't Be Like This All the
Time, the Twilight Sad proved they were adept at revealing
different shades of heatbreak and hope with each release. The
Twilight Sad rose from Glasgow, Scotland, in late 2003, when
guitarist Andy MacFarlane and vocalist James Graham -- who began
playing together in high school -- decided to take their music more
seriously. Along with drummer Mark Devine, with whom they'd played
in a covers band, Graham and MacFarlane added bassist Craig Orzel
to the fold. After playing a couple of shows in Glasgow that
featured extensive pieces of music using an abundance of
instruments, they holed up in the studio to record a four-song demo
that they presented to FatCat Records in September 2005. The label
signed the band after their third show and issued the Twilight
Sad's self-titled debut EP as a U.S.-only release in November 2006;
the full-length Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters arrived the
following April. The 2008 EP Here, It Never Snowed. Afterwards It
Did featured acoustic reworkings of several of the album's songs,
plus a cover of Daniel Johnston's "Some Things Last a Long Time."
The compilation Killed My Parents and Hit the Road, which featured
versions of songs by the Smiths and Joy Division among its
previously unreleased tracks, also arrived that year. The Twilight
Sad continued to tour as they worked on their second album, playing
dates in the U.S. with Mogwai as well as appearing in the U.K.
Forget the Night Ahead, which had a darker, more streamlined
approach than the band's earlier work and was co-produced by
guitarist McFarlane and the Delgados' Paul Savage, was released in
September 2009. The following February, Orzel left the Twilight
Sad, who added bassist Johnny Docherty to their touring lineup. In
September 2010, the Wrong Car EP featured remixes by Errors and
Mogwai. Two years later, the Twilight Sad returned with No One Can
Ever Know, a cold, electronic-based set of songs featuring
production by Two Lone Swordsmen's Andrew Weatherall. The band
continued this electronic direction with a remix collection
featuring Com Truise, Liars, and Optimo that was released late in
2012. Following the departure of keyboardist Martin Doherty (who
left to pursue his other group, Chvrches), the Twilight Sad
recorded 2014's Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave
at Mogwai's Castle of Doom studio. Mixed by Peter Katis -- who also
worked on Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters -- the album
reflected all of the past and present aspects of the band's sound.
Late that year, the band released the limited-edition Òran Mór
Session EP, which featured stripped-down versions of songs from
Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave as well as
covers. Initially available only at the band's shows, the EP was
given wider release in October 2015 with extra tracks. Nobody Wants
to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave earned the band a fan in the
Cure's Robert Smith, who took the Twilight Sad on multiple tours in
2016. The following year, Graham's other group Out Lines, which
also included singer/songwriter Kathryn Joseph and producer Marcus
Mackay, released its debut album Conflats. Early in 2018, Devine
left the Twilight Sad shortly before they made their next album.
Graham and MacFarlane recruited drummer Johnny Scott and made
Docherty and touring keyboardist Brendan Smith full-fledged members
of the band (after the sessions for the album, Sebastian Schultz
became their permanent drummer). Recorded at Middle Farm Studios in
Devon, U.K. with Andy Bush and input from Smith, It Won't Be Like
This All the Time appeared in January 2019 and marked the band's
debut for Mogwai's label Rock Action. ~ Heather Phares

The Twilight Sad are one of the more conventional-sounding bands on Fat Cat -- that is, if cathartic, widescreen rock augmented by accordions and melodies rooted in Scottish folk can be called conventional. Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters expands on the searing, earnest sound of the band's self-titled EP; indeed, several of the Twilight Sad's best songs are also highlights here. "That Summer, at Home I Became the Invisible Boy" just might be the band's definitive song: guitars shimmer and build up into poetic squalls; James Graham's appealingly thick Scottish burr imbues lyrics like "Kids are on fire in the bedroom" with tenderness; Mark Devine's powerful but nuanced drumming cuts a swath through the melody but doesn't overpower it; and accordions add an unexpected, homespun warmth. "And She Would Darken the Memory" is another standout that underscores the similarity between the Twilight Sad's sound and the luminously anthemic side of the Walkmen or Interpol. However, the Twilight Sad have a more free-flowing approach than either of those bands, especially on the stunning "Talking with Fireworks/Here, It Never Snowed," which comes in like a lion with torrents of drums and guitars, and goes out like a lamb with a sparkling, hypnotic guitar melody. "Last Year's Rain Didn't Fall So Hard" is a gorgeous glimpse of a song that fades in and out, suggesting that it goes on forever, a feeling echoed by the instrumental title track, which closes the album with more of the wonderful atmosphere that makes the rest of Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters accessible, but ultimately far from conventional. The density of the Twilight Sad's sound evokes wide open spaces, yet the louder they are, the more intimate they sound -- these kinds of paradoxes make this album a powerful debut. ~ Heather Phares

Though the Twilight Sad's debut, Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters, and its follow-up, Forget the Night Ahead, were released only two years apart, it feels like more time than that elapsed in the band's evolution. Granted, the band kept busy during that time, releasing the EP Here, It Never Snowed, Afterwards It Did and the compilation album Killed My Parents and Hit the Road and touring with acts like Mogwai. Just how important that activity was to this album becomes apparent quickly: one of the songs collected on Killed My Parents and Hit the Road was the band's cover of the Smiths' "Half a Person," and Forget the Night Ahead's lead track, "Reflection of the Television," with its dense guitars and James Graham's sullen croon, sounds uncannily like a collaboration between Morrissey and Mogwai. While those elements have always been present in the Twilight Sad's music, they've never been so clear; indeed, one of the most notable things about the album is just how much clearer the band's sound is here than it was on Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters. Here, a heavier, denser attack replaces that album's atmospheric drift; these songs are as moody as ever, but muscular -- the guitar roar on "I Became a Prostitute" and "That Birthday Present" recalls Shellac as much as it does My Bloody Valentine or the Twilight Sad's other cited influences. The band's writing is also more direct, giving the album a blunter feel, but the emotions swirling in these songs are still complex. Regret, revenge, and reassurance mingle in Graham's voice when he sings "You and I will bury them all" on "Interrupted" or "Blood is never spilled after dinner" on "The Room." The delicacy and epic sweep of the Twilight Sad's first album is missed occasionally on Forget the Night Ahead, but the progress they've made is fascinating -- and rewarding -- to hear. ~ Heather Phares

The Twilight Sad's sweeping, Wall of Sound style seemed to be as inherent to the band's music as James Graham's unmistakable, burr-heavy vocals. However, on No One Can Ever Know, they deliver a set of songs inspired by Liars, Cabaret Voltaire, Autechre, and Public Image Ltd -- all artists with a hard-edged sound almost the exact opposite of the band's previous territory. The band drafted Two Lone Swordsmen's Andrew Weatherall to help them pull off this change, and given how later TLS albums drifted toward rock and industrial leanings, he was the right man for the job. The spooky backing vocals on "Not Sleeping" are very Drum's Not Dead-era Liars, while the keyboards that replace the band's shimmering guitars, and the clanking industrial percussion that ghosts many of the drumbeats here manage to feel natural even if they're very different than what came before. Philosophically, the bands that influenced No One Can Ever Know's sound are kindred spirits to the Twilight Sad's bleakness, though Graham and company express themselves far more earnestly than most of those acts. Without the lush sound that softened their edges and leavened their black-on-black moods, the band sounds more desolate and desperate than ever; fittingly, this album trades in suppressed and repressed secrets and memories, and worst fears being realized. "Don't Look at Me" decries growing old alone, while the album ends with "Kill It in the Morning," a dark grind that leaves listeners no reprieve. The Twilight Sad are still at their best when there's something soaring in their music to at least hint at some hope, as on "Dead City" and "Nil," where synth strings add a little cover to Graham's almost unbearably naked vocals. No One Can Ever Know reaffirms that the Twilight Sad are unafraid of challenging themselves or their listeners, and for better or worse, there's something admirable about that uncompromising attitude. ~ Heather Phares